Sheikh Hasina, the then Prime Minister of Bangladesh. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Awami League has so far issued no notification on their online platforms, but some media reports suggest that the party activists were directed to hoist national and party flags at party offices and stage flash street processions. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

Tarique Rahman. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The new members of the Parliament of Bangladesh will be sworn in at 10 a.m. on February 17, 2026, the Election Commission of Bangladesh has announced 
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Kevin Kelly, the Irish Ambassador to India and Bangladesh, meets Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus of the interim government in Dhaka on February 10.

Bangladesh will soon witness the birth of a new political party that will safeguard the young generation’s contribution to the uprising that overthrew the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024. Nahid Islam, a senior official in the interim government, conveyed the student coordinator’s plans to launch a political party to Kevin Kelly, the Irish Ambassador to India and Bangladesh, this week.

Mr. Kelly had paid a three-day visit to Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar. He met with Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus, Touhid Hossein, the Adviser on Foreign Affairs, and Nahid Islam, the adviser on telecom and information and broadcasting. Mr. Islam had played a major role in organising the uprising.

Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjis Alam, who led the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, had called for a week-long consultation about the possibility of launching a new political party that would provide an alternative to the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), two parties that ruled Bangladesh for most of the period since its independence in 1971.

In response to a question from The Hindu, Ambassador Kelly said, “I asked and it was confirmed to me and it is also being reported widely in the Bangladeshi media. So there is work underway to form a political party.” The Irish envoy further said he understood that the political party was part of an overall effort by the young protesters to safeguard the legacy of the uprising of August 2024.

“The sense I got was the young people had taken decisive action in terms of the uprising in July. Now, they want to make sure that they have political representation and a political voice in the future of Bangladesh,” said Mr. Kelly, who is one of the first New Delhi-based Western envoys to have access to the leadership of the interim government. Ireland has faced many intractable problems in its journey to peace. The country’s strident support for cases such as the conflict in Gaza Strip and the Rohingya crisis has also been noticed.

The formation of a new political party in Bangladesh is significant, given the upcoming elections that are expected to be held in December this year.

Mr. Yunus, in his chat with Ambassador Kelly, gave a sense of the roadmap that his administration will follow to bring Bangladesh back on the track of democracy. It is understood that the declaration of the political party by the student coordinators and officials in the interim government will lead to some changes within the current set-up, Mr. Kelly said. The student coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement had earlier announced that the new party would be “moderate”.

The Irish Ambassador also recounted Ireland’s unique experience of conflict resolution and reconciliation after decades of violence and terrorism that is referred to as “the troubles”. In his conversation with Mr. Yunus, Mr. Kelly expressed hope that the process of reconciliation in the case of Bangladesh “should not take that long”.

The Irish envoy’s visit to the Rohingya camps near Cox’s Bazar was partly prompted by Ireland’s commitment to resolving the Rohingya crisis. The envoy pointed out that Ireland is among the countries that, apart from extending financial support, is also taking a small number of Rohingya individuals to reduce suffering.

Muhammad Yunus
| Photo Credit: AP

After months of maintaining a low profile, the deposed Awami League of Bangladesh has begun to mobilise both inside the country and in different parts of the world. The political party that ruled Bangladesh for over a decade and a half faced serious setbacks when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Cabinet colleagues were deposed and fled the country in August. However, over the past few weeks, AL leaders have begun to challenge the interim government headed by Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus.

Earlier this week, the joint secretary of the Awami League, Mahbubul Alam Hanif, lashed out against the Yunus government following the recommendations made by the Constitution Reforms Commission seeking fundamental changes to the state of Bangladesh. In a statement, the Awami League leader said in Dhaka that the “commission has recommended removal of secularism, socialism, and nationalism from the 1972 constitution and the recommendations are not acceptable at all.”

Former Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Hasan Mahmud, is known to have taken refuge in Belgium. and the All European Awamii League has been holding multiple meetings in Belgium protesting against growing instances of mob justice and breakdown in police system and administration.

The main overground political party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) that was in sync with the interim government in August and September is no longer extending unconditional support. On Sunday, General Secretary of BNP Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir echoed the concerns as enunciated by Mr. Hanif of the Awami League. Mr. Mirza Fakhrul said that the far reaching changes suggested by the reform commissions will not be accepted without all party consensus. The statement was made following an event on the 89th birth anniversary of founder of the BNP and late Presdent Ziaur Rahman in Dhaka.

File photo of Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina
| Photo Credit: AP

NEW DELHI

Several audio recordings of purported conversations between deposed Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and members of her party, the Awami League, have stirred controversy in Bangladesh, with her opponents accusing her of trying to incite violence as the interim government plans the next election cycle. In the latest audio clip that went viral on Sunday, ex-PM Hasina can be heard saying that those who targeted her party members would face consequences.

Though the reports of the phone calls from former PM Hasina began circulating soon after she was forced to leave Dhaka on 5 August in a helicopter, the matter gained attention in September when a conversation between her and an Awami League supporter from the US was shared widely. In the conversation, she had said, “I am nearby. I can return quickly if necessary.” In the latest conversation, Sheikh Hasina can be heard saying, “You should make a list of those who are carrying out attacks on our people. No one will be spared. I can return any moment.”

The conversations were initially dismissed as being generated by AI but subsequently began to be taken seriously after Jehangir Kabir, general secretary of Barguna District of the Awami League, was arrested by police for conspiring with Hasina, who is currently wanted in multiple cases related to the student uprising in Bangladesh.

Inciting violence

Hasina’s conversations with her party colleagues were taken up by leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, who said she was trying to incite violence from outside. “An audio of Sheikh Hasina’s conversation was leaked on Sunday, in which she instructs the Jubo League and Chhatra League to prepare for armed resistance. It means she’s issuing threats of bloodshed,” joint general secretary of the BNP Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said on Sunday.

The controversy has sharpened the political divide in Dhaka. The interim government banned the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the Awami League’s student wing, last week. After the Chhatra League’s banning, the conversation in Dhaka has now shifted towards banning the Awami League itself so that it can be prevented from participating in the next election.

Bangladesh’s interim government has made it clear that it will initiate political and economic reforms before the next election is announced. The interim government’s attitude towards the Awami League and its participation in the electoral process are issues that are being discussed currently in the ruling circles of Bangladesh.

On Tuesday, the government’s law adviser, Asif Nazrul, announced that the process of constituting the election commission of Bangladesh has started, and the country will have an election soon. He, however, indicated that the interim government would revise the electoral list ahead of polling. “The people of the county had no interest in the voter list since previous elections were fake. This time, we will hold an extraordinary free and fair election,” Asif Nazrul said in response to questions from the media in Dhaka.

Sheikh Hasina. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

“A fresh case has been filed against Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 58 others on the charges of attempting to murder a student during the violent clashes that led to the fall of her government last month,” a media report said on Sunday (September 15, 2024).

It was the latest in the slew of cases filed against the 76-year-old former premier, who resigned and fled to India on August 5 following a massive protest by students against a controversial quota system in government jobs.

Sheikh Hasina faces 33 cases, including murder, after ouster from Bangladesh

The case was filed on Friday by 22-year-old Fahim Faisal, who claimed he was shot and injured during an anti-government protest in Dinajpur on August 4, a day before the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, The Daily Star newspaper reported.

“With this, the tally of cases against Ms. Hasina has reached 155, including 136 for murder, seven for crimes against humanity and genocide, three for abduction, eight for attempted murder and one for the attack on a Bangladesh Nationalist Party procession,” the report said.

According to the case statement, protesters were assaulted with firearms and local weapons, resulting in multiple injuries to Faisal, who was treated at Dinajpur Medical College Hospital and recovered partially.

A month since Sheikh Hasina was forced out, Dhaka’s new rulers ask for ‘patience’

The case accuses 59 people, including Ms. Hasina, former whip Iqbalur Rahim and Dinajpur Sadar Upazila Chairman Imdad Sarkar.

More than 230 people were killed in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina-led government, taking the death toll to more than 600 since the massive protest by students first started in mid-July.

The slogan ‘This is new Bangladesh’ was spray-painted on a gate of a bungalow, to mark the recent anti-government protest that ousted then PM Sheikh Hasina, in the Dhaka University area on August 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

A case was filed on Wednesday (August 21, 2024) against Bangladesh’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 86 others on charge of attacking a procession in Sylhet city which left several people shot and injured during the recent mass protests on August 4, taking the number of cases against her after her ouster to 33.

Juber Ahmed, acting president of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal’s Sylhet city unit, filed the case with the court of Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate Suman Bhuiya.

Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana is also an accused in the case.

According to the case statement, the accused attacked a peaceful rally, brought out by Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its associate organisations in Sylhet City’s Bandarbazar area on August 4, which left several shot and injured, The Daily Star newspaper said.

Awami League’s general secretary and former road transport minister Obaidul Quader, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, former foreign minister Hasan Mahmud, former law minister Anisur Rahman, and former advisor to the prime minister Salman F Rahman were among people named in the case.

With this case, Hasina is now facing 33 cases against her, including 27 for murder, four for crimes against humanity and genocide, and one for abduction, the paper said.

Hasina fled to India on August 5 after resigning from her post amidst unprecedented anti-government student-led protests.

The Hasina-led government was replaced by an interim government, and 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was named its Chief Adviser.

Bangladesh’s interim government has said it will try those involved in the killings during the recent mass movement of the students against the Hasina-led government in the International Crimes Tribunal.

Over 230 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government, taking the death toll to more than 600 since the massive protest by students against a controversial quota system in government jobs first started in mid-July.

On Tuesday, she along with five other was implicated in a case lodged over the murder of private company employee Firoj Talukder in indiscriminate shooting from a helicopter by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) during recent anti-discrimination students’ movement.

Earlier Hasina, her son Sajeeb, daughter Saima and sister Rehana and 17 others were sued in a case filed over the killing of a fruit seller in the capital’s Jatrabari on August 5.

The victim’s father, Sultan Miah, filed the case with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Shakil Ahmed.

Another case was filed against Hasina and 49 others over the death of Md Omar Faruque, a student of Kabi Nazrul Government College, at Laxmibazar of Sutrapur on July 19.

Hasina and 24 others were sued for the death of 18-year-old garment worker Sohel Rana in the city’s Adabor area on August 5.

In Savar, Hasina and 75 Awami League men were sued over the murder of a barber shop worker on August 5.

In Narayanganj, a case was filed against Hasina, seven former ministers and lawmakers and 179 others for killing a bus helper in the Kanchpur area of Sonargaon upazila.

In Rangpur, Hasina, her sister and 49 were sued over the killing of a vegetable trader during the quota reform movement on July 19.

In Joypurhat, a murder case has been filed against Hasina along with 216 others in connection with the death of an auto driver in front of a police station on August 5.

In Bogura, Hasina and Obaidul Quader have been sued for the murder of a rickshaw puller on August 4.